11 — Showing Restraint

11 — Showing Restraint

“Hmm-hmm-hmmm, good-bye weeeeds,” I hummed as I did my daily gardening.

Until today, I had primarily been just helping out in the garden, but recently I’ve been doing more looking after my own personal corner of it. The flowers Mr. Fisalis bought for me have been doing well and have bloomed beautifully. And just like Bellis told me, I’ve been able to enjoy them time after time as they wither and bloom again. That’s why I’ve got to stay on top of my weeding—for the sake of these lovely flowers! If this flower bed ends up looking ugly because of some weeds by the time Mr. Fisalis comes home, I won’t be very happy at all!

Once my flower bed was nice and weed-free, I wandered into the rest of the garden.

My mother-in-law had given my gardening her approval. So, while I was able to continue my gardening in triumph, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d be in trouble if my in-laws caught me doing other housework. I did that on the down-low, I guess you could say. I’m sure we all would have been in panic mode if they came home unexpectedly!

I started every day that my in-laws weren’t at the manor with some weed-pulling after breakfast, and then once the garden had been tidied up, I would choose some flowers to decorate with. Once I’d made my decision, I’d take them inside the house and wander around for a bit. I would do this and that around the manor until noon, in other words, my usual routine. I could do this because my in-laws were out of the house! Which meant that I could eat with the servants in their dining room as per my usual routine, too! I endured my lonely breakfasts, knowing that if I waited, I could have a fun lunch with the servants.

My in-laws’ absence also means I can eat more casual, less fancy food. It’s still just as delicious, though. What’s the point of having Cartham here if you’re barely going to use him, er, I mean, making Cartham cook the same darn things, over and over, will only dull his skills!

I don’t mean to suggest that my in-laws were eating at the Royal Palace before they came home every day, though. Cartham cooked for them then, too, so I wondered if he wasn’t being overworked. Actually, on the days when my in-laws were around, I swear that even the servants’ meals tasted a smidgen more luxurious.

But I’ve already gone on enough about our food situation.

I’d end up looking for things to do after lunch. And then, tragically, come evening, I had to stop my cleaning and odd jobs. Of course, whenever my in-laws ate dinner at the palace, I had my own dinner with the servants! Those days sure felt like some sort of special treat.

The way I went about my days while they were away at the palace was similar to how I had spent my time when Mr. Fisalis was at home, so the real problems emerged when they never left at all. I never knew when they were going to emerge from the cottage!

When they were headed toward the manor, one of the maids assigned to the cottage would come to the main house to warn me, just as I had arranged beforehand.

“Former duke and duchess incoming!”

This was our cue that the In-Law Shift was about to begin.

Upon hearing thus, we would reply, “Roger!” and I would straighten out my clothes, and Mimosa would quickly do my hair and makeup. It was pretty unbelievable, really, that Mimosa’s skills were so amazing she could pull it all off under such a time crunch. It’s no exaggeration to say that there’s nobody better than Mimosa when it comes to makeup and hair. Even Dahlia is no match for her in those fields.

Oh, that reminds me. When my mother- and father-in-law were at the manor, I had to go without my uniform. You can only change your clothes so fast, after all. I chose to wear clothes in colors that hid dirt well and were easy to move in. I would have felt bad for Dahlia and Mimosa if I pushed to have things my own way, so I settled on that instead of wearing my uniform. You don’t need nearly as much time when you’re just doing hair and makeup!

The other maids prepared tea in the salon.

It was all a piece of cake compared to our previous Cercis Shift. All I had to do was fix my clothes and makeup and have some tea made! These were only last-minute fixes, though, so I had to rely on my acting ability and innocent face when I greeted them as they walked over through the garden.

“Father and Mother Fisalis, you both look well today!”

“Deliveryyy!” It had been three days since one of Mr. Fisalis’ lady knights had shown up and I’d sent a message back with her.

“Madam, a messenger from Master has arrived,” Rohtas called.

“A what?!” My in-laws were in the manor that day, so I was sewing quietly in my room. It was another patchwork project, my specialty. It wasn’t just surprise visits from my in-laws we had to prepare for, but from messengers, too, so my uniform was still taking a little vacation in the closet for the time being.

But enough about my uniform.

I rushed to the entrance, still frazzled over the sudden appearance of a messenger, to find Alkanna, the bronze-haired lady knight, standing there, smiling radiantly in her knight’s uniform. At her feet were two burlap bags. The bags were so big I wasn’t sure even a grown man could have carried them and, based on how bumpy they were on the outside, they must have been stuffed full of angular items. The bags looked like they could just barely be tied shut.

“How do you do, Alkanna? Do you have another letter for me today?” Another one after only three days? I thought you were busy, Mr. Fisalis.

“No. Well, I do have a letter for you, but I’m mostly here to bring the fruit you requested,” she said, pointing to the sacks lying at her feet.

Is she serious? I felt dizzy for a split second.

“Um... did you say fruit?” Since when did I request fruit? Oh, I did ask Rohtas about possibly getting some, now that I think of it! But, that’s weird. I don’t think Rohtas told Mr. Fisalis to send any. If anything, Rohtas would just arrange to get some from one of our usual tradesmen.

I looked over toward Rohtas as I thought to myself how unlikely that scenario seemed, and sure enough, he also looked perplexed. His expression confirmed my suspicion that this wasn’t the result of our earlier conversation in the salon.

So, then, what was it...?

“Ah!” I suddenly remembered something.

“Madam?”

“Is something wrong?” Rohtas and Alkanna asked at the very unladylike sound I’d let out.

“Oh, haha. Nothing at all,” I laughed in a fluster, trying to hide what I was thinking. She must have read my letter and saw where it said, ‘I would also like to try the fruit you mentioned, if only to see what they are like.’ ...I didn’t really mean that literally, though! That must be it—she thought I honestly wanted to try some of the fruit. Oh no.

Alkanna produced an envelope from her breast pocket just as before, saying, “This is the letter,” as she handed it to me.

Yes, yes it is. And you’re expecting a reply, too, I imagine.

“Ah, another already, I see.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They must really have a lot more free time down there than they’re letting on. Especially considering how thick this one is.

“Oh, I’ll need a response from you this time, too!” Alkanna said to me with one of her wonderful smiles.

Based on what I’d been told last time, their mission wasn’t public knowledge, but rather being carried out behind the scenes. So it seemed they still had some free time. It’s still nice to know that Mr. Fisalis and Co. aren’t in danger. What I’d like the most is for him to come home without getting involved in a war, but I know that’s a pipe dream.

Mr. Fisalis’ letter mirrored this sentiment. By and large, his letter was a smorgasbord of the same honeyed words as before, as well as a lecture on the local produce. As well as how delicious they were, he talked in detail about how the fruit was cultivated, which I didn’t think was much use to me.

So, another travel brochure, another fruit lecture, and I was no closer to understanding what it was Mr. Fisalis wanted from me.

For the time being, I hurried to write another reply that would not give the inspector too hard of a time to approve. Of course, this time even general niceties, like ‘I’d love to see X’ and ‘I’d like to try Y sometime’ are off limits now! It’s a big weight off my chest, though, to know that I don’t have to write dumb stuff like ‘I’d love to see your gem stones.’

When I finished my response, I went back to the salon to entertain Alkanna and my in-laws. I didn’t have time to prepare any sweets for them while they waited, since I hadn’t been expecting anyone, so I rushed over to a well-known confectioner’s and bought a boxed set of cakes as a stopgap.

Pleeease don’t show up unannounced!